A book review blog that features historical fiction and cozy mysteries with a little bit of everything in between....

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Review: Murder on the Rocks by Allyson K. Abbott

Description (from cover):

'Mack's Bar is one of those nice, friendly places where everybody knows your name. That's great when someone's buying you a round, but not so hot when you find yourself atop a list of murder suspects--with your fingerprints on the bloody knife!

Mackenzie 'Mack' Dalton is a Milwaukee bar owner with a nose for trouble--literally. A neurological glitch has left her with extra perceptive senses. So when she stumbles upon a dead body in the alley behind the bar--the same spot where her own father was shot eight months earlier--she can tell right away there's something fishy in the air. The lead detective thinks there's a link between the two deaths, and he'll need Mack's help to sniff out the murderer amid the crowd of eccentric regulars. But when all the evidence points to her as the most likely culprit, it could be an early last call for Mack--and celebratory cocktails for a killer.'

My thoughts:

Sometimes some books catch your eye because the seem to be appealing and you think that you might enjoy them. Sometimes you are right and love the book and other times you are left disappointed. That was the case with this one. I liked the main character, but her neurological 'condition' was a little strange and foreign to me. It really doesn't make sense and while it may be a real condition, it just didn't work so well for this book. I can see how having extra senses might help solve a mystery, but the author didn't really do a good job of making it work in this one.

I really enjoyed the setting as it was something fresh and new. Not a lot of bar cozy mysteries out there, so that was a nice change. The mystery was a little obvious as I had the murderer pegged quite early on. I just couldn't get past the whole neurological condition thing. It really seemed to bother me and took away something from this story. I think that there were different ways to approach this and the author really didn't do a good job of doing that. Perhaps the next in this series will reflect a change, but if not, I probably won't be continuing with the series. It has the typical romance involving the police detective that is starting to become an overused cliche in cozy mysteries. Why is the love interest always the cop or detective? I mean come on, let's get some creativity here people.

Mack owns the family bar that has its own peculiar set of regulars. When her dad's girlfriend at the time of his death turns up dead behind the bar, Mack must use her brain and her 'condition' to solve the mystery. With the help of the regulars, some friends and of course the love interest, Detective Duncan, she must solve this murder mystery before she becomes the next victim of a brutal killer. Another disappointing cozy debut mystery. Here's to hoping the next one in the series is better.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Your comments and recommendations are very important to me and I personally read every comment and will reply directly on the post. If you wish to receive a reply by email, please tell me so in your comment. Please leave a blog address if you have one and I will check it out. Happy reading!

About

I am a 32 year old bookworm and I'm proud of it. I have a love of historical fiction and cozy mysteries, but I will read a lot of different genres as well. I love to read and love to get recommendations on books. You will always find me with my nose in a book. My hope is that this blog leads to your next great read!